Meet Fashion's Next Big Powerhouses at Parsons' MFA Graduate Show

If you’re looking for the next big designer, look no further than Parsons School of Design’s MFA Graduate show. Shown at MILK Studios, it’s a test tube for what’s next in the world of fashion. Last week saw editors, designers, and supporters alike (Donna Karan and Fern Mallis to name a few) pack the rows to view what could be considered New York Fashion Week’s most exciting telescope into the future.
We chat with three of the showing graduates about the challenges of crafting their collections, their futures, and more.

Anna Mercedes StephensonOriginally from: United Kingdom
Bachelor’s Degree: Edinburgh College of Art, UK
Collection in one word: "Beautiful."
Biggest challenge: "I came straight out of my Bachelor’s program so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t repeating anything I did there. Also, challenging and surprising myself, in itself, were big challenges. If I’m satisfied too quickly, I get annoyed with myself."
Favorite material to use: "Cotton because you can do anything with it. I like to watch what materials do by themselves and that’s why for this collection I photographed it, printed it, and photographed it again. You can see I had a relationship with the fabric."
Future plans: "Eventually I’d like to do my own thing, but I’m young and the thing I love about fashion is that you’ll never know where it’s going to go. I’m happy to say I don’t know--I love the mystery of it."

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Hannah JenkinsonOriginally from: United Kingdom
Bachelor’s Degree: Brighton College, UK
Collection in one word: "Sportcraft."
Biggest challenge: "The techniques I used were tough because they were so time-consuming. One of the sweaters took me eight days doing nothing else."
Favorite material to use: "Since I’m a knitwear designer, I’d have to say silk yarn is my favorite."
Future plans: "I’d love to set up my own brand, but I’d be perfectly happy working for a small designer in New York or Paris."

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Is one of these kids the next Alex Wang?
Last week, Coach CEO Reed Krakoff and Simon Collins, Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons, hosted a pre-party for the 2011 Parsons Fashion Benefit at Krakoff’s eponymous store on Madison Avenue. On display were looks from ten designers, chosen by their peers, representing the cream of 2011’s young fashion design crop.
Now, the grad show for Parsons fashion design student will take place in early May, but consider this a preview. If that show is the Oscars, where those chosen to present their thesis collections are chosen by a panel of Parsons staff and industry experts (the Academy), these are the SAG awards, where the kids were judged by their peers.
“One thing I love is that the students go so far beyond what was required,” said Collins. “There’s a dress over there that was hand-woven. It reminds me of Michelin 3-star chefs, who will spend six hours slaving over one detail of one entrée to get the right flavor. They need to create 6 looks in their collections and there’s a student here who did 19. There’s blood on the sewing machines.”

Remember that City episode where Bergdorf's Linda Fargo sort of rips apart Whitney Port's clothing line? Well, in the realm of things that might be awkward, the two now sit on the very same judging panel. Along with Chris Benz, Iman, Joe Zee, and a dozen other industry insiders, they're part of Elle Fashion Next, a pretty cool program that (like GenArt) helps open doors for emerging fashion designers.
In addition to connecting promising design students with industry mentors, Elle Fashion Next selects a handful of students to show at Lincoln Center during fashion week, and awards the two most outstanding finalists with individual $25,000 grants.

“Watching this show makes me think I could use a few more years in school,” said Reed Krakoff at the Parsons 2011 BFA fashion show. Krakoff, a Parsons alum and the executive creative director of Coach as well as his eponymous line, addressed the crowd of students, parents, press and faculty halfway through the show, saluting his teachers and spotlighting Parsons as the cradle of talent for the fashion industry. Krakoff’s comments were echoed in a video featuring some of the school’s other prominent alumni, including Prabal Gurung, Donna Karan, and Anna Sui.